Unexpected Return
by Chickachang
Summary: After encountering a virus on Earth, a Yautja returns home carrying a deadly disease.  Will the Yautja race be able to withstand a global epidemic, and what will happen to the warrior? Chapter two of part one will be out soon, please read and review!
1. Chapter 1

Although not entirely necessary, it would be wise to read the prequel to this. As usual, I do not own the Aliens and Predator franchises…that's all 20th Century Fox's. Please review!

**Unexpected Return**

**Part 1**

Chapter 1

The Yautja ship's engine was rumbling deep in the bowels of the vessel, taking itself home on auto-pilot. The infinite and dark vacuum of space enveloped the ship, which was only barely lit by an approaching solar system's star. All appeared normal in the ship, besides the destroyed kitchen area and the occasional scratch across the walls. A proud warrior stands in his Kehrite, as he has done hundreds of times before, and gazes out into the stars in a peaceful meditation. Although his training room was well equipped, it seemed dusty, and there was no quiet clicking of tusks as one in meditation would ordinarily do. Only upon close examination would one realize that the fiery yellow eyes of the Yautja hunter were even more sunken in than usual, and pale as milk. His tusks, though still vicious, hung flaccid. His gaze; a billion mile stare, for there was no inner peace being sought, he was brain dead. Lifeless, but still incredibly deadly, the Yautja zombie was a new menace to the universe as he stared out his viewing window.

Zazin-de had encountered an unidentified toxin and enemy from a regularly used hunting planet, inhabited by the clever Oomans. He was investigating suspicious activity of the space jockeys on their planet, so landed without knowledge of the new affliction. The Oomans had an all but devastated world, with seemingly only hundreds of small pockets of survivors across the planet. The virus works by killing off the Ooman then the body is revived after death by the pathogen, causing them to be deadly in infectious numbers but easy to pick off. Except, what he hadn't known was that their bodies emit no thermal energy when dead...before his hunt even began Zazin-de was doomed by a simple bite in the leg. The toxin acted slowly due to the hunter's strength but after drinking too much of his C'ntlip supply he succumbed to the virus in an inebriated sleep on his furs in a dishonorable death for such a proud and noble warrior. His body had been dead for weeks now and it was slowly starving. The undead Yautja had already scavenged the small meat reserves and was truly only surviving thanks to the warrior's metabolism. Taking a statuesque stance was the only reason it ended up surviving the rest of the trip…becoming a ticking time bomb waiting to be released on an unsuspecting warrior race.

The lights that indicated awaiting messages in the bridge area only served to cascade an eerie orange glow across the entire room, as if a klaxon flashing danger. The elders had not heard from him for quite some time, but could track that his ship was returning. They flippantly ignored the potential warning sign that something was amiss in not hearing back from him. His ship was practically already in their solar system and it would only be another few days before his arrival.

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><p>The time drew near for his return and a party of his clan gathered to learn why he had abandoned his duty. Zazin-de was a spectacularly honorable member; he was just unlucky enough to draw the space jockey duty. The one unfortunate enough to have that duty was to follow the derelict vessel and track their movements without interaction. No one could really blame him if he just simply grew tired of following the vile Xenomorph spreaders. Although, it would be very unlike him, and he would still have to face some retributions for denial of duty. The ship arrived and gently lowered, clearly controlled by computer guidance, perfectly centered on the docking station. However, no door opened and no walkway descended from above. Calling down someone who could access the electronics, the Yautja's clan waited patiently. They stood around and discussed various topics, ranging from Zazin-de's hunts to the possible repercussions of his abandoned mission. It was clear that he was he was a well-respected Arbitrator and deserved mercy in his trial. Finally, after opening a small panel and reconnecting several wires, a door hissed open and yet there was still no sign of their warrior, so three of Zazin-de's longtime hunting partners decided to go in and resolve this situation.<p>

All appeared normal as they entered his scout ship, humidity and gas levels were in check, besides a faint stench, the three had no way to know what awaited them. Calling out his name and getting no response, they began searching each of the rooms. Every one of the three clicked their tusks nervously as no response was heard and no sign of life was on the ship. They had come into the kitchen and deduced that there must have been some strange attack, since the food had been demolished with the rest of the room. Cabinet doors were ripped from their hinges as if some monster had enough sense to know there was food inside, but not enough to simply open the door. They turned into the trophy room and attention was immediately drawn to the center of the trophy wall, for a spotlight lit an enormous hard meat queen's skull. It was an amazing sight but next to it was a strange and bloated Ooman head in a jar that snapped at them as they drew near. There was a very strange mix of emotions running through their neon blood of both pride and anxiety. The perplexity of the situation only worsened when they heard a weak groaning noise from the next room over. Taking a battle stance on each side of the entrance they pressed a button on the panel, and the door to the Kehrite hissed opened giving all three an instant relief to see their brethren meditating by the window. Although, he looked strangely different, as if ragged and paler, the three still knew him as their friend. He must have been in such a deep trance that he didn't notice the landing or them coming in, he didn't even notice them calling out his name in front of his face. Looking him over, they saw the faded green wound on his leg, but in doing so, missed the slight movement in his eyes. Sensing food and renewed life, the undead Yautja lunged forward and bit into the neck of the nearest of his unsuspecting friends. The others roared in surprise and began trying to pull off their crazed friend; only to have him turn on their hands…each losing a finger before backing up and reevaluating the situation. They quickly grabbed a net gun from the nearby armory and fired it at him; it instantly began pulling tension and started to constrict around him. The two Yautja then stopped the constricting wires and looked over the insane Arbitrator, unsure of what to do next. The gaping hole in the neck of the first Yautja was devastating but nothing a day or two in a healing chamber couldn't fix. So, they grabbed the incapacitated warrior and the two left to tell the others what happened to their fingers and friends.

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><p>A steady hum and blinking lights were constant in here but the elder healer's room was just right for him. He had several healing chambers and enough practice to take care of his entire clan, no matter the situation. This situation was different though and he took it all in, unsure of what to do next. Malweh-te looked over Zazin-de, restrained by straps and inside a cage, but still growling and snarling. Zazin-de had hunted with him for many seasons before he had become an Arbitrator and Malweh-te devoted his life to being a healer. They kept close despite having galaxies of distance between them and much respective work to do. Now though, he should have been unconscious with the amount of sedatives he received but without any blood flow, the drug just sat in a lump where it was injected. Malweh-te moved on to the three that had each lost a part of themselves in the attack. Something was wrong with the healing chambers though too; each chamber hadn't updated their progress in healing. He had been the clan's eldest member and the most reliable healer for many seasons now, but their technological advances and thefts had never pleased the old Yautja. Tapping the electronic tablet but getting no response, he decided that a punch to each chamber's panel would fix it. Surprisingly to no avail! In the amount of time that he had given the machines to work, the two with finger injuries should have finished long ago. He checked the tablet again, 98%, 98%, and 77%...exactly as it had been when he put them in. He called for a technician, who couldn't explain the conundrum either. The two collaborated as they tried to piece together what was wrong. They turned each chamber off at the source and let them reset for several moments, before turning them back on and then checked the panels; 90%, 90%, and 50%. They shouldn't have dropped at all, much less over 25% for the one with a hole in his neck. Something was seriously wrong with the chambers, or was there another reason? Malweh-te thought it all over.<p>

Since the numbers were stable as long as the healing chambers were active, Malweh-te decided to reevaluate how to help these warriors. The hunters all appeared to be infected with something and the one with the most serious injury and blood loss appears to be affected the most by this unknown blood borne pathogen. Zazin-de had been infected by something and has now, perhaps in the same process, spread it to three more. This all felt familiar but he couldn't place his talon on it quite yet. After much deliberation and endlessly searching through his files, he decided that a walk was in order for him to clear his mind. Most Yautja pride themselves in their determined long-strides as they powerfully walk, Malweh-te was different; slower and more deliberate in his motions, and he wandered aimlessly. He thought about the infectious virus that seemed to eat away at living cells in the infected body, and that the healing chambers help but only in delaying their effects. His sauntering eventually led him to the bay where Zazin-de's ship was being held. Curiosity piquing his interest, he remembered that there was rumor of a Kiande Amedha queen's skull on board. So, Malweh-te walked into the scout ship and made his way to the trophy room. Overpowering every other skull was the queen. She was enormous, much bigger than he remembered. Bigger than the one he had faced even. That was long ago but the memories of his ancient fights rushed back to him as he drew his claws across the crests. The hunt used to be the only thing that mattered; now politics hindered all aspects of the proud Yautja. Policing the Derelict was a joke to Malweh-te, but during the seasonal clan meeting, where over a hundred clans come together, politics shape their lives. He remembered the debate of whether or not to allow space jockeys to continue seeding planets with hard meat, he opposed, suggesting the Yautja maintain a small population only for hunting. A neighboring clan, of Fyet-Thwei's though felt that the Xenomorph species wouldn't survive without help. So, a treaty was struck up by Fyet-Thwei's conservationist clan and was forced into acceptance by delegation. It allowed the space jockey to spread the Kiande Amedha to a select few hunting planets. Malweh-te wondered what he and his peers would have done in their day, probably just mounted every space jockey's skull in their respective trophy rooms. He traced his claws across the back of his skull, where two deep scars ran. The Kiande Amedha was a treacherous species that deserved the hunt, but surely deserved no mercy. Now, because of politics, one of their clans most valuable Arbitrator was forced to complete a banal task to allow the Kiande Amedha to spread, and then seemingly become lost to this unknown disease.

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><p>Without a body needing to be supported, the head of a Zombie needs nothing to survive. The humidity of the Yautja ship only served to disfigure the face more and create a terrible smell. It had sat for nearly a month, only following the motion of another of its kind for a long time, and then there was suddenly a smell of flesh nearby. Sensing life, its mouth opened silently and then with a snapping of its remaining teeth, began biting at the air towards this new potential meal. Malweh-te jumped, expecting that it was only an Ooman skull in the preparation of mounting. Unsure of what he was looking at, he got closer to the glass jar and studied the bloated Ooman head. Their eyes usually had a brilliant color that flashed brightest when they're bodies were suspended in the air by wrist blades. This creature's eyes though were as pale and milky as Zazin-de's are; this connection did not escape Malweh-te as his brain sprang into action. What if this trophy held the key to what afflicted his fallen comrades? He understood that; if he could reproduce the virus from both Zazin-de and this Ooman head, then he could take that sample and revert it into a cure. He carefully picked up the jar and made his way past the secured docking area, and back towards his lab.<p>

The technician had already left; he deduced, as the main lights were out and nothing but the small lights on the machine blinked…meaning the hum wasn't present. Malweh-te, with the grace of someone a hundred seasons younger than he, ran into the healing chamber room to find only two occupied. Plus, the remaining two were down to 8% each before he was able to find the right cables to reconnect the power. It was no fault but his own; he hadn't explained to the technician that his panels for his lights were rigged to be a part of the same controls for the pressured chambers. In turning off all the lights when he left, he also depowered the chambers, which in turn released the door lock for them. The door to the chamber containing the unhealthiest Yautja somehow had violently opened and the door had pulled out the auxiliary power cables for each chamber, the dying hunter was missing too. Zazin-de sat with glazed eyes, only making weak biting gestures, similar to the undead Ooman head. As the hum fell into place with the blinking lights, Malweh-te took a deep breath and clicked his tusks in thought. "Pauk!"

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><p>Hope you all liked chapter, I have part one almost completely finished…but I figured I'd start uploading to build the suspense. Please take the time to review, I feed off of it!<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

As usual, I do not own the Aliens and Predator franchises…that's all 20th Century Fox's. Please review!

**Unexpected Return**

**Part 1**

Chapter 2

Malweh-te desperately tried to think of his next step, all while very nervously wondering where the body could have gone. His deep thinking was interrupted by a roar from nearby, he rushed outside to see the missing hunter slumped over and groaning a weak roar. Others had surrounded it, wondering what was wrong with him; it took this advantage quickly and bit into the arm of an unsuspecting suckling. Unsheathing his wrist blades, one of the Yautja in the crowd, lunged forward and stabbed the biting and dishonorable beast in the shoulder. The crowd began dispersing in fright when this didn't register as pain and his bite only quickened due to the proximity of more flesh. The child was taken away but stopped only a short distance away, when it began to vomit neon green blood and convulsed wildly, evidently the immune system doesn't fully develop for several seasons in the Yautja bloodstream. Living cells quickly died off in the poor child, without it even understanding the transformational journey it was beginning. Meanwhile, the brave Yautja backed up and fired his cannon point blank at the head of this merciless monster. Such proud warriors will not stand for such a demeaning act. The explosion of neon blood cascaded across the open area everyone was standing in, serving as a reminder of the child nearby. Its body too sat in a pool of neon blood that had been vomited out as it died in the arms of its mother. Each of the remaining clan members clicked their tusks in quiet pity; no young one deserves to die like this. All became silent as they looked deep in the face of a poor dead child; the silence was quickly broken when its hand moved. Perhaps there was hope yet! There was cheer in the group until its eyes opened revealing pale irises that gave even the most hardened warrior chills. It began biting at its own mother, leaving her with no alternative but to run, without even knowing her fate was already sealed. While consoling her dying child, a drop of her child's blood landed in her mouth and began reproducing in her bloodstream like the efficient killing machine that it was. Several hunters restrained the undead child and kept it from biting them as well. Malweh-te rushed over and instructed them to bring the child inside; he may be able to help him too.

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><p>Deep in trance, Malweh-te sat and journeyed through his thoughts. Seasons ago, when the elder was a masterful warrior, he was called in to battle the Kiande Amedha and a strange virus from a hunting preserve. A young blood's Chiva had gone wrong, and instead of an honorable suicide, a distress beacon was set. Four other warriors accompanied him as they landed on the planet and found the afflicted Yautja. He had evidently come across native life, while on the hunt, that was unknown due to its subterranean burrowing. The hunter was following the Xenomorph from afar when he was attacked from below and behind. The entire group of young bloods was wiped out by this underground venomous monster. His wrist computer had been damaged and with limited mobility, the young hunter was only barely able to escape and then send a distress signal. He lay paralyzed, but his shame was visible to all.<p>

The young one had done the right thing, without setting the beacon this could have happened again, and probably just be blamed on the Kiande Amedha succeeding. It was decided that with the hard meats near enough, the hunt would be taken to the trees to eradicate them first. Jumping from branch to branch, following the dumb hard meat screeches, the Yautja yearned for battle. They finally reached a small cave where several drones crawled aimlessly around the entrance. Following a speedy massacre, done quickly due to the number of eager hunters, they began baiting for the new species. The logic was there that having a fresh sample of the poison could be crucial in creating a cure. Luckily for the clan, this new species emits the same spectrum as the Xenomorph. So, armed with their traditional hunting armaments and masks tuned to the right vision, the Yautja finished the hunt. A disc blade had sliced through both legs of a Xenomorph drone and so it was used to bait the burrowing creatures out. Sure enough, one circled it, causing a displacement of the dirt in a spiral pattern before jumping out and began trying to eat through the hard jet-black skin. Unsure of the creature's vision, Malweh-te activated his cloak and approached the worm with a bag. The dumb but deadly worms were easy to catch, such a despicable parasitic species that deserved as little mercy as the Kiande Amedha.

The group took their bagged worm back to their ship and began extracting its potent chemicals to try and decipher a cure. The DNA was unique, in that it adapted to the creatures bloodstream and metabolism instantly, paralyzing the entire blood flow and muscles of whatever creature it entered. A Yautja's blood is as strong as the warrior whose heart pumps it; it was well known that Xenomorph's acidic blood can be neutralized with their blood. With this knowledge, a cocktail of chemicals was mixed of; uninfected Yautja blood, various proteins and concentrated reproduction of the toxin. They examined the results and it appeared to resist the infectivity. With no time to spare, they were forced to provide the dying warrior a hasty transfusion. The needles were placed and the process was started, halfway through they introduced the antidote. He immediately began showing signs of improving and the clan sighed in unified relief. This very encounter was what inspired Malweh-te to later become his clan's healer. They all departed to the bridge and called back to the home world, a call to arms was made against the new species that needed eradicated…by that planets nightfall, a dozen hunters and Arbitrators docked their ships and began hunting the new game.

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><p>Armed with old memories, Malweh-te carefully extracted cells from the Ooman skull and Zazin-de and began studying the chemical make-up. Both acted similarly but the Yautja cells were understandably stronger due to a higher metabolism and overall strength. Using the same process that he had used for the young hunter, he mixed the infected Ooman cells with the Yautjas, but it ended with a much different and vicious result. The undead cells became larger and faster, the small dish of uninfected cells under his microscope was overtaken by the undead cells in a matter of seconds. After ingesting the living cells, the Yautja-Ooman zombie cells began excreting a toxic concentration of gases. Luckily, he was able to contain the dish before the gases caused him harm. This would not do, so back to the files he went and studied every blood virus his race had known.<p>

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><p>An alert was blinking on the nearby display panel, the alert had been put out that a strict curfew was being enforced due to an outbreak of a deadly disease. Clan mates and family alike have gone missing, only to turn up again as only a shell of their once proud self, everything else about them was dead and monstrous. In total forty Yautja have gone missing, ten have been restrained and six eradicated. At the rate of infection though, this clan and the entire planet has a very imminent problem. This all fell on Malweh-te's plate as he was slaving over his work table, every inch of the table was covered in files and chemical samples. There was no cure, there was no solution, and he could not resolve this situation. His eyes rolled in his head, out of pure exhaustion but he would not give up. He looked to the crate where Zazin-de sat in defiance, but not a typical Yautja defiance, instead a lethargic and thoughtless fight that was hopeless. He had extracted cells from the Ooman skull and combined them with infected Yautja cells, but that had only proved to be potentially far worse. The logic was there that the same process would work, but perhaps he didn't have the right ratios or variable chemicals. Malweh-te looked to Zazin-de and sighed,<p>

"Well old friend, tell me what to do."

Zazin-de only sat and stared, he had been fed and was not starving but constantly restrained and teased with the healer nearby. His restrained hand was only able to grasp at his leg, but he clawed at it when the healer was nearby as if trying to reach him. His leg had scratches raked across it from his own talons, his own flesh and blood brainlessly harming himself…his own blood. He toyed with the idea of only using Zazin-de's blood cells, when it struck him that the most obvious answer was in fact that. He should have never introduced Ooman blood cells into this equation; the chance that it worked with the young hunter and the worm long ago was only a coincidence. Using a mixture of chemicals; Malweh-te's own blood and a concentrated dose of reproduced Zazin-de's blood cells, the healer was able to create a small jar of a yellow fluid. He would have to run a test though, so he took another syringe to Zazin-de much to his dismay of having food so close but yet unattainable. A dish was placed under his microscope and he combined the two samples. Several drops of healthy Zazin-de sat in the small dish under a microscope, as the healer barely even needed to look in the scope to know…he ran to the door and pushed but there was resistance so he put his back into it and pushed again.

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><p>Malweh-te stumbled out of his house in ecstatic celebration, intent on letting everyone know of the cure. The ecstasy was instantly erased when he realized how bad things had gotten outside of his safe laboratory. Smoke rose nearby and parts of neighboring clan homes were visibly burning in the distance. The usually packed center of their civilization was nearly empty, except for a few straggling beings in the distant. Every building seemed to be barricaded off, before he quickly realized that someone had barricaded his own laboratory. How long had he been locked up trying to find an antidote? He quickly came to the grim realization that it had been an entire season, and that with an exponential infectious rate, his whole planet was at stake. The old and peaceful healer made this realization at the same point as sensing movement nearby. Without his mask, the only thing Malweh-te could see was a thin outline of an undead neighbor. Being a healer, he had no weapons on him but with one deft movement he placed two fists center mass. It was only temporarily pushed back before resuming its hunt of hunger. Malweh-te rushed back through his hastily exited doors with the creature in pursuit. The healer made his way to his rarely used weapon rack and removed his ceremonial spear. The staff was extended in one swift motion; he impaled the skull of the unfortunate undead Yautja. He possibly could have tried to immobilize the now motionless creature, but it was dangerously close to knocking over the table with the cure. The healer reveled in the moment, blood dripping from his spear and a rapid heartbeat from fighting and running. Clicking his tusks in glory followed by a, surprising for his age, roar, Malweh-te quickly closed the door to avoid encountering anymore undeserving foes. He had a renewed mission to finish the application of the cure by testing it on a patient, luckily he had four. The two Yautja in the chambers hadn't died, thus not allowing the infection to take over…they just merely sat in a comatose- like state in the healing chambers. Although the infection would begin killing off live cells as soon as he is removed from the chamber, Malweh-te opened it and moved one unconscious hunter to the examination table.<p>

The healer walked to the nearest wall to pull a small switch on a panel, and a door hissed open revealing a staircase leading down to his underground medical storage unit; although very dark, he heads directly for the tall canisters in the back. Unscrewing a large spin-top lid releases a loud rush of pressured gases followed by the top clicking into place. Reaching in, he pulls up four large bags, containing bright neon liquid. Taking all of them back upstairs, he begins the process of transfusion. Needles are inserted into several places of the dying Yautja and halfway into the replacing of the blood, the yellow antidote is administered. At the introduction of the chemicals, his body convulsed and heart rate rose rapidly but subsided after a moment and then nothing seemed to happen. It was only after everything finished, that Malweh-te had the sense to take a blood sample and determine what happened. Instantly he knew that his hopes were true and that his antidote worked. The hunter was merely unconscious from being comatose for so long. His cells were reviving and shedding all of the infection as if nothing happened. After another hour, he awoke alive albeit sore and with a new finger thanks to the chambers. The second hunter was revived after that and had a happy reunion with his friend but it quickly turned to a mourning of their lost hunting partner. Malweh-te had decided not to test on Zazin-de because he had been dead and for quite some time. The others had a higher chance, and sure enough every one survived…including the now orphaned suckling. Now, he had to try and see if the cure would work on someone as far gone as Zazin-de.

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><p>Hope you all enjoyed it! I'll be finishing the final chapter of part one by next week. I wanted to wait to post more, but you all seem to enjoy my story…so here ya go! Review please!<p> 


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